Braden Mackie 1

Braden Mackie

Professor Watkins

Comp 1 TR 9

25 September 2018

Influential Coaches

As coach Vince Lombardi once said” The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to

his commitment to excellence.” A coach can change an athlete’s life in one of two ways. The

athlete could become and outstanding member of society or could push them away from sports.

My coaches left an impact on me for which I could not be more thankful. My coaches not only

taught me discipline, accountability, how to demonstrate a great attitude, and how to have

compassion. They prepared me for the rest of my life with these skills.

Coach Stauder and I first met sophomore year in football practice and he did not hold

anything back his first day of practice. The whole team thought he was crazy. We did not know

what to expect that football season. As the practices went by during football season, we

continued to grow closer. He started cutting jokes with the team. He always invited the team to

small groups with his church. Stauder also coached me in baseball for those three years I knew

him. The first thing he said to me was “people should not have to earn your respect, people

should already have your respect for just being alive.” Stauder was a man of character because

he had expectations for us, that he knew you could accomplish. He held high standards for the

players he coached. He made sure we knew what he expected from us and the first day of
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practice. The expectations he held for me were expected from my point of view and his. He

expected me to do everything right, he expected me to follow directions, and he expected me to

give 110% doing my job in the game. I learned so much from Stauder within those three years

with him coaching me in two sports. He taught what respect meant, he taught me how to hold

myself to a certain standard, and also taught me what true character was.

Coach Holmes was another impactful coach in my life because he showed compassion

and what it was like to care. Holmes arrived around the same time coach Stauder during my

sophomore season. Holmes was a caring coach because he helped me through a lot during those

three years. The most he showed me he cared was my senior season of football. It was after my

third concussion, that caused me to quit football. My head coach wanted me to play the rest of

the season, even after the doctor told me I should not play anymore. Holmes was one of the

coaches that pulled me aside and told me my future was way more important than football. Just

him telling that made me feel so much better about the whole situation than I did before he and I

had that conversation. He was one of the most influential coaches that I’ve known throughout my

sports career.

Coach Caid was the toughest coach I have ever had; the man was the true definition of

crazy. He lived and breathed football just like any coach should, but he coached us like college

players. Caid was a graduate assistant at multiple college like OU, UCO, and a small Christian

college in Arkansas. Caid came in to my athletic career during my junior year, he hit the ground

running when he arrived at Dewey. He coached us like a college program. We had film, weights,

ice baths, and mental training every week during football season and offseason. Caid taught

many things to me over my two years. Mental toughness is what he preached about every single

day that he coached. He would say “your mentality will win the day” I still live by those words,
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it’s your choice whether you have a great day or a bad day. He taught me adversity, he would

make situations tough on us to prepare us for bad situations in games. I remember one game

week it was supposed to rain on the Friday. During the practices that week the coaches would

take water bottles and squirt them in our face preparing us for a rainy game. It didn’t rain that

game, but we were ready for the adversity of rainy weather. While he taught me mental

toughness, how to handle adversity, he taught us how to be accountable for our actions. You

could have been the star of the team Caid didn’t care, but if you were late you would sit out part

of the game that week. He wanted to show us how a job would be like in our future, he showed if

you were late the boss would get rid of you in a blink of an eye.

Coaches can change athlete’s lives in many positive ways. My coaches in my life

affected me in the greatest way possible. I could not be happier with the way the coached and

taught me life tips along the way also. John Wooden once said “A good coach can change a

game; a great coach can change a life”. I believe all these coaches can teach future player to be

accountable, hardworking, great attitude, and an outstanding member of society. In my heart I

knew these coaches would go to war for me, that’s how much they cared for each player on that

team. My high school coaches are great example of what a coach should be. These coaches have

prepared me for the rest of my life with these skills. They taught me how to demonstrate great

attitude, how to be accountable, and how to be disciplined.